Bihar MLA Anant Singh found guilty in AK-47 recovery case

Anant Singh, who enjoys a strong man image, has a total of 37 cases lodged against him with different police stations in Patna district since 1976.

A special court in Patna on Tuesday pronounced RJD legislator Anant Singh guilty in a case of recovery of an AK-47 assault rifle, 26 live cartridges, a magazine and two hand grenades from his house at his native village Nandwan in rural Patna on August 16, 2019.

RJD MLA Anant Singh leaves from the court after he was convicted in the AK-47 and hand grenade recovery case, in Patna, on Tuesday. (PTI)

“The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on June 21,” Singh’s counsel Sunil Kumar said, adding that they will move high court after punishment is awarded.

Singh, who represents Mokama constituency in Bihar assembly, was present in the court when the verdict was announced. He has been lodged in Beur Central Jail in Patna since the recovery of arms from his house.

The MLA was formerly known to be close to chief minister Nitish Kumar, but fell out with him ahead of the 2015 assembly elections, which led to his exit from the JD(U). He contested the 2015 elections as an Independent and retained Mokama seat, which he has been winning since 2005. Later, he joined RJD.

After the arms were seized from his house during an 11-hour-long police operation on August 16, 2019, Singh went on the run. Later, he had released a video in which he had claimed that political forces were “conspiring” against him in the case and he would be directly surrendering at the court instead of doing so before the police.

A few days later, the MLA surrendered before Saket court in New Delhi.

Singh, who enjoys a strong man image, has a total of 37 cases lodged against him with different police stations in Patna district since 1976. Ten of them relate to murder, according to police.

In 2004, eight of Singh’s associates and a special task force (STF) jawan were killed in a fierce shoot-out at village Ladma under Barh police station limits.

In the arms recovery case, the state government has appointed Shyameshwar Dayal as the special public prosecutor. Dayal was also a prosecutor in murder cases against former MPs Mohammad Shahbuddin and Anand Mohan Singh, besides the case of a minor’s rape in which RJD MLA from Nawada, Rajballah Yadav, was accused. All these cases resulted in the conviction of the accused.